I just returned from a self-drive trip around Northern Tanzania. Prior to the trip I found only scattered advice on how best to do it, so I figured I’d give a detailed account of how we did it. There’s a lot I learned and some ways I’d do things differently. I am an American based in South Africa and my travel partner is from Norway, but used to live in Uganda; both of us are wildlife researchers.
Our Brief Route:
We started in Arusha, drove to Ngorongoro Crater Conservation Area. Slept at the public campsite for a night, did the crater floor the next morning and then stayed again at the campsite. Next morning drove to Serengeti NP via the B144 and Naabi Hill Gate. Stayed two nights in public campsites and left via Kleins Gate in the north. From there drove to Lake Natron and camped a night there, then drove back to Arusha making one big circle of the Northern Circuit.
Renting a 4x4:
You do need 4x4 for all the parks and hiring a Rav4 from one of the local rental places (like First Rental) won’t cut it. They will charge you $250 if you enter one of the parks with their car and on top of that only a Cruiser, Landie, or something similar will cut it on the roads.
We used Fortes in Arusha, they made it extremely easy and were great. I contacted them a few months before to get some quotes and suggestions. If you don’t want to self-drive they do offer a driver for an extra $30 or 40 per day (includes, his accommodation, food, and fuel if I remember correctly). We opted to self-drive since we wanted a more intimate experience and we are both wildlife biologists. You can pick different options as far as Landie or Cruiser, number of doors, pop-open roof, or roof-top tent. We picked a 4 door cruiser with a roof-top tent. It was in great condition, 2015 model that drove like a dream.
For $220 per day we got the cruiser with 2-80L tanks of diesel, the pop-up roof tent with mattresses, pillows, and sheets, a full kitchen kit with plates, utensils, pots, and pans and mugs, basic kitchen washing kit, 2 camping chairs, a table with cloth, cooler box, and jug of washing water. For $20 we rented a gas cylinder to cook on. You can also rent a shower, toilet, and electric cooler box (we probably should have gotten this one). We got unlimited kilometers in the northern circuit and just had to bring back the fuel at the same level. In total we did about 1200 km and used only 120 L of diesel at most, making it super cheap on fuel. It also had charging ports with international plug points, so we always had charged phones and cameras.
Permits
The only hassle with permits is if you’re going to the crater, as you have to get them in Arusha before you leave. You can hire someone to do this for you and I would probably do that if I come again as it took the better part of a day to sort out. I had been working in Zanzibar the week before and luckily had a few extra days in Arusha and a local friend to guide me.
At the NCAA office in town, you first need to fill out a quote form. Basically the dates you want to go, gates you plan to use, campsites you want to use, and your personal information. You also need your vehicle specifics, so I called Fortes ahead of time to get the details such as weight and number plate. Also if you want to go into the crater floor you need to tick “Crater Service” and number of days. Each permit day is 24 hours and begins when you enter the gate. Likewise you have to checkout when you depart and if you’re going to Serengeti after you need to checkout at the Naabi Hill Gate, which is further than the park boundary.
You give this form to the clerk and they give you a quote, this is not the permit. You now need to pay the quoted amount by depositing directly into their account at the bank. There’s a bank next door to the office that has the NCAA’s bank details on a sign. Most of it needs to be paid in USD, but the vehicle fee needs to be paid in shillings.
Ours worked out to:
-2 people x 2 days : $283.20 or TZS 616,243.20
-2 people camping x 2 nights : $188.80 or TZS 410,828.80
-Crater Service x 1 day: $295 or TZS 641,920
-Vehicle fee: TZS 82,600
Total: $805.30 or TZS 1,751,592 (not cheap, but we knew that)
After a 2 hour queue at the bank (maybe because it was Saturday), you take the two yellow deposit slips and bring it back to the NCAA office. You go to the second counter and give them these slips along with the quote. They enter all this and give you your permit. For self-drives they issue a paper permit, not the smartcard. Make sure it’s all correct, because they will hassle you. Ours had the wrong dates on it and the woman said it was fine and the gate guards would know it was a common issue. She refused to reprint it, but I had to write out the correction and sign it. They still gave us some hassle at the gates despite this.
Serengeti was 100 times easier. No need to do anything in advance, just rock up to the gate and swipe your credit card (visa or mastercard). Make sure you check out first, as they’ll check your NCAA permit if you’re coming from there. Tell the clerk how many days you want to stay and at which campsites, and then swipe your card. If you don’t know the name of the campsite, it’s okay, as long as you know the area you want to camp they will assign you one. They said it’s okay to use whichever we wanted in that assigned area.
Worked out to:
-2 people x 2 days: $240
-2 people x 2 nights camping (public): $120
-Vehicle fee x 2 days: $20
+VAT, TOTAL: $437.60
If you go back via Lake Natron, there are 3-4 gates you need to pay at south of the lake. They range from $10 to 15 per person, but are negotiable. At the first gate they even had a card machine. The 4th gate is where you need a permit, but Fortes will handle this for you. Often the guards aren’t at this gate so you won’t even know it was there or you needed a permit. This was the case with us.
Camping
There’s only 1 public campsite at the crater rim, Simba A. Online I found many reviews about how it was busy and had no view, but we found the exact opposite. We drove from Arusha and went to the campsite that afternoon. We parked on the edge of the campsite and had a great view of the crater! We paid a few locals to collect some firewood for us and made a fire next to the car. It was fantastic and exceeded all expectation. It was the low season, so other than one tour group it was just us. The campsite had cooking and cleaning facilities, as well as hot showers and toilets. As expected being 2000 m up it was quite cold, so be sure to prepare for that. In the morning we left just before sunrise to go to the crater floor, took about 25 minutes to get to the descent road gate.
The campsites in Serengeti were also well beyond what was described to us by mates. Most had proper flush toilets and covered areas to eat. I think most of those people don’t really camp properly often.
There are several options to camp at lake natron, all situated close to the volcanoes, waterfalls, and the lake of course. We paid $10 per person per night, and then paid a local guide $20 to bring us to the waterfalls and the lake. It was great; we swam at the waterfalls and got some amazing pictures at the lake. Our campsite also had a restaurant, where we had a great meal with a few beers (a nice break from camping and most of our perishables had gone off by then).
Supplies
Once you get your 4x4, you’ll need to hit the shops in Arusha for supplies. Don’t expect to find anything you need once you leave town. We expected to be able to get a loaf of bread, but couldn’t find anything on the way to the crater. Just outside of Arusha they’ve recently opened a Food Lovers, which is superior to anything you’ll get in Arusha (if that’s of your interest). Along the way and in the parks you’ll only find the occasion place selling basic snacks and cool drinks, but nothing to feed you properly unless you crash a lodge. We only found large containers of drinking water in Arusha, so we packed enough for the trip.
We had no issues finding fuel. All the way to Mtu wa Mbu you’ll find petrol stations and in NCA and Serengeti there are fuel stations next to the park HQs. But if you head north like we did, make sure you’re full before you go. We didn’t find any diesel until we hit Mtu wa Mbu again.
Overall
I think for the number of days we had we packed in a lot, saw most of the northern circuit, and didn’t feel rushed. Doing a self drive was amazing, we didn’t see any other self-drive vehicles the entire trip and you could tell we were the envy of every other tourist. Many people asked us where we got the 4x4 and how we did it, as if it was a mystery. We did have a bit of rain, since it is November, but we both work in parks driving cruisers so it was like any other day. Those without the 4x4 and wildlife experience would have missed out on having a guide I think.
I think price wise we came out on top over going with a company. Even if it was more, it was so worth being by ourselves and doing things our way. The next part of our journey we went with a tour company and it was such a different vibe, much less exciting and fun.
Last Tips: Technically you have to have a guide to enter the crater floor. I was able to talk my way out of it, but others may not be so lucky. They will send you back to the headquarters to hire a local guide. Even at the campsite that morning when we left the guard told us just to tell the gate guard that we had been here many times and knew the rules and that we wouldn't need a guide. Maybe not a bad idea since they are protecting the crater, but with that said I think we behaved better than many of the other guides in there.
Get the Frankfort Zoological Society map, it’s the best one you can have for the area. I also had a handheld GPS that I entered key junctions, campsites, and gates into beforehand which was invaluable.
The B144 from NCA to Naabi Hill hate is horrible, probably the worst road to drive. Just take it slow and enjoy the empty landscape. Traffic cops heavily police the tar road from Arusha to the Crater and the speed limit is only 50kph, which can make the trip much longer than needed. Most people will do 100 or more. If you do get caught and they ask for cash it’s going in their pocket, you can bargain them down to 5-10k.
